


Floral Fauna

by Zodiac



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Amaurot (Final Fantasy XIV), Amaurotines (Final Fantasy XIV), Features mandragoras and maliktender though, Gen, Mentions of Hyth/Emet but Emet isn't present, Patch 5.0: Shadowbringers Spoilers, Slice of Life, he's probably napping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:33:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25027777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zodiac/pseuds/Zodiac
Summary: While delivering culinarybribescreations to Halmarut as a sign of goodwill, Hythlodaeus discovers that Cerberus is not the only troublesome creature being cared for by a Convocation member.
Kudos: 10





	Floral Fauna

**Author's Note:**

  * For [casenpai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/casenpai/gifts).



> Commission done for a guildmate. Kind of sort of a sequel to [A Rose Without Its Thorns](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24425473), but can be enjoyed without reading it first.

While Hythlodaeus didn’t mind the Bureau of the Architect and all the various odd creations that may spring into life there, he preferred not to visit certain Convocation members while they were at their places of work as their types of research and possible creations surrounding it were… more than a touch questionable to him. Mitron was definitely out of the question; the aquatic abominations that they managed to come up with almost never failed to terrify the poor Amaurotine and he tried to keep his distance from them as much as he possibly could. Lahabrea tended to be iffy more often than not; he wasn’t much a fan of the horses that the Speaker was so fond of and the  _ bombs _ … well, he had to replace his robes more often than he would have liked every time he had to pay him a visit while he was at work.

Halmarut, the Convocation member he found himself visiting today, could easily go one way or the other. Certainly, many of her floral creations were beautiful, even downright breathtaking, but there was definitely a darker side to her craft. The plants that gobbled up whatever they could wrap their leafy limbs around for nourishment, the ones that coursed with poisons so potent and agonizing that you wished you had died upon consumption, the ones that reeked of the rotten, sickly-sweet stench of corpses to attract insects… he didn't wish to think of how she managed to make the smell so accurate.

Instead, he turned his thoughts to his purpose in coming to begin with. While he turned down the offer to be in the Convocation itself, he was still on friendly terms with all of them, aided in no small part by his cooking. Some of the members, the esteemed Emet-Selch included, were utter disasters in the kitchen even with creation magic and enjoyed having fare other than sandwiches or takeout for once. Others who did have culinary skills of their own were able to appreciate the effort and care put into a home-cooked meal. In unkind terms, what he was doing could very well be considered bribery, but he preferred to think of it as… earning leeway for any future pranks or transgressions he might pull on the Convocation members.

It was ever-so difficult to remain angry at someone when they were offering you a freshly-baked cookie, after all.

Not that he had cookies on this particular excursion. Halmarut tended to favor spicy foods… despite spiciness being created by a previous Halmarut as a defense mechanism for their plants, (Again, trying not to think on it too hard.) so he made pillowy dumplings stuffed with kimchi, chopped cabbage spiced so thoroughly that the searing red color was sure to warn anyone of just how much heat was packed into it. Unfortunately, the folding process took longer than he expected, so he had to freeze them the previous night before waking up bright and early to cook and bring them in to Halmarut at work. With all that done, they were now nestled in a basket hanging from his arm, a cloth wrapped around them that was enchanted with a gentle warming spell to ensure they would stay hot until given to their recipient.

And speaking of said recipient, he was almost where he figured she was.

He had made his way through hallways as labyrinthine and winding as tree roots and, with turning the handle of one final door, he found himself in a vast atrium, glass ceiling allowing sunlight to filter through and fall upon the countless types of plants growing in the room. There was so much greenery that he couldn't even begin to identify, all the colors of a rainbow interspersing the scene in the form of opened blooms and heavy-hanging fruit. Amongst the flowers and fronds, he could see small, rapid movement and hear high-pitched noises that even he couldn't understand. All signs of mandragoras, therefore, all signs of Halmarut being present.

Soon enough, they emerged from the underbrush and spent a moment staring curiously up at him. Five in total, they were all inspired by various fruits and vegetables, sans the one that seemed to serve as their leader, identified by the pink flower blooming from its head. After sizing him up, they began to climb on top of one another starting with the garlic-based one on bottom, then eggplant, onion, tomato, and finally the leader atop the pillar of plant creatures. Admittedly, they were still a far cry from his own height, but that didn't stop the leader from giving him a stern look as it made more of those noises in what sounded like a vague semblance of a question.

Taking a guess as to what it was asking, he raised the basket a bit as he spoke in a soft, soothing tone, as though one might to a child. "Hello to you too, little ones. Do you happen to know where your mother is? I brought a present for her, you see."

After a few more moments of staring and the plants bickering amongst themselves, they each extended their right… arms? Appendages? In unison, pointing out a path that led deeper into the atrium. After making certain to thank them (because they could evidently understand him even if the reverse wasn't true), he hurried on his way down that path, not turning back even when he heard high-pitched screeching followed by the distinct noise of plant matter tumbling to the ground.

And sure enough, he found Halmarut with her back turned to him in a clearing, only grass covering the ground around her, likely magicked to keep the teeming flora surrounding it at bay. In front of her was another of her ambulatory creations that seemed to currently be occupying her attention, this one looking like a small, slightly chunky cactus with even smaller legs.

Hythlodaeus honestly couldn't tell if that shocked expression on its face was a result of seeing him or was just how it looked.

"Good day, Halmarut~" His tone was so sing-song that most who knew him might be worried as he placed the basket down on the plush grass. "I thought I would stop by, see how you are doing… I brought food with me, of course."

"You mean your bribes." Ah. Well, Halmarut never was one to shy away from unkind terms… Despite the harsh words, she had a warm smile on what could be seen of her face when she turned around to face him, the crimson Convocation mask covering the rest. "Hyth… how have you been? Keeping that man of yours in line, I hope?" A quick glance behind him. "I cannot help but notice that you did not bring him with you…"

"Yes, well, I thought you and I could benefit from Emet-Selch not being present for our get-together." That and he knew, though Halmarut had mostly only kind words for himself, her attitude towards the Architect was… less than amenable. Even with him around, she would have likely ended up chasing Emet-Selch out of the garden patch with one of her creations.

"And I am indeed keeping him in line… if doing so means ensuring he eats three square meals a day and goes to bed at a semi-reasonable hour, anyway. If anything, our dog is proving to be more of a handful than he is." The corners of his lips quirked upwards in a fond, albeit just a tad exasperated, smile while thinking of Cerberus. The pup was starting to get to that awkward age where he was big enough to get into things he shouldn't, but still young enough that any training to prevent such wasn't  _ quite _ sticking yet. Then again, he supposed he should only expect trouble from a creature made of his and Emet's aether; neither of them were known for their good manners, after all.

"Oh, do you happen to know of a way to deter animals from licking plants? Cerberus keeps licking the basil in our rooftop garden and we cannot exactly put any flavorings on it to deter him since we use it for cooking, so I thought I might ask you for your opinion.”

Fingers clothed in thick gloves raised up to her chin and she tilted her head from side to side for a few moments as she pondered over the question, strands of chestnut hair slipping free from her hood with the motion. “Hmm… Flavorings are not an option for you… Neither are poisons… Ah! I couuuld let you borrow one of my most recent creations! It is called a “malboro” and I designed it specifically to keep watch over fellow plants and incapacite anyone or anything that may try to take a bite out of them!”

“...Ah… While, that is a very kind gesture, entrusting me with one of your newest creations and all, I am afraid that I will have to decline.” Sudden memories of the brief glances he managed to get of that particular proposal resurfaced along with the unease he felt upon viewing the design. So many eyes, so many tendrils, so many  _ teeth _ … He was glad at the time that Emet-Selch had snatched the design away from him, saying he was going to take care of it, but now they had to wonder just why he had apparently decided to approve it after all… Oh well, that was a question for later, when he was at home.

“He may very well unintentionally harm your creation and I simply could not  _ bear _ anything untoward happening to it while under our care.” Nice save. “We hopefully will be able to train him not to taste the basil sometime in the near future, but I will be certain to keep your offer in mind in case we  _ truly _ need it.”

A rustling sound close to the ground caught Hyth’s attention then and he glanced down to see the little cactus creature had taken the opportunity of Halmarut being distracted by him to root around in the basket he had brought. Stubby arms had propped open the lid of it and were now digging eagerly into its contents, apparently interested at the food within. If he concentrated enough, he could hear quiet munching noises beneath the other sounds of movement.

“...Besides, it appears as though you may need to focus on training your own creations first~”

The Arbiter followed his gaze and let out an absolutely mortified shriek once she parsed what was happening, diving down to scoop up the naughty plant and get it away from the basket. Half of a dumpling fell from its mouth as she lifted it up, the cactus triumphantly eating the part it had managed to bite off in time. “I am  _ so  _ sorry, my plants normally behave themselves perfectly well, but this is another relatively recent creation and, well, you know how they can be.” A sigh and a shrug as she looked down at it in defeat. “Just so I do not worry for this little one’s health, what did you even make for me?”

“Dumplings filled with kimchi.” And, as the creature gulped down its mouthful of said kimchi, it seemed to absorb whatever nutrients were in it amazingly quickly, along with its signature color. Indeed, right before his very eyes, the bright red color spread from where he assumed something similar to a stomach was out towards its extremities until the light green of its skin had entirely been taken over by the same red the cabbage was, like placing a plant cutting in colored water. Fascinated, he leaned down to get closer to its level, reaching a finger out in front of its face, but not touching it; those needles would likely still hurt. “In fact, he even looks somewhat like kimchi now~”

Another exasperated noise from this poor Convocation member. “Likely a temporary color change, and if not… Well, we will see. I do apologize again. It seems as though even plants cannot resist your cooking.”

Hythlodaeus chuckled as he straightened back up, not at all upset about his gift being eaten by something other than its intended recipient. “I take that as a compliment, I assure you.” Leaning down again to gather up the basket, he found that the cactus had managed to consume the rest of the dumplings while they were busy talking; they had only noticed it when it was busy eating the final one. Hungry little thing, wasn’t it?

In any case, he should probably be going on his way —Emet-Selch could only go through so many creation concepts without him around. With a signature smile and a wave, he turned to begin making his way out of the atrium. “I will leave disciplining the little one to you, but rest assured that I will visit you again sometime, Halmarut.”

“Would you perhaps be willing to make another batch of those dumplings? They sounded absolutely  _ incredible _ .” Oh, is that a pout he heard in her tone?

“Of course, of course. I would never pass up a chance to prepare food for someone who appreciates it.”

And he’d be certain to make a second batch for that little troublemaker of hers as well.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this and wanted to screech at me in a manner similar to socializing, then you can find my Twitter right [here](https://twitter.com/HippestGlitch).


End file.
